Opinion

The political cartoon (?) in the Sept. 18 edition of the Oregonian was right on! McCain is pointing to a graph saying "The Fundamentals Are Strong." The graph shows "LIES" up, "BALDFACED LIES" up, "WHOPPERS" up, "DENIAL OF OBJECTIVE REALITY" up, and "CANARDS" up! Palin is looking on with a big smile. Let's check for facts: Palin's acceptance speech "trips up on her facts, and Guiliani and Huckabee have their own stumbles on Night 3 of the Republican confab" (Source: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/gop_covent'n)
Summary:
"Sarah Palin's much awaited speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night may have shown she could play the role of attack dog, but it also showed her to be short on facts when it came to touting her own record and going after Obama's.
We found Rudy Guiliani, who introduced her to be as factually challenged as he sometimes was back when he was in the race. But Mike Huckabee may have laid the biggest egg of all.

First, about golf: yes, it's spendy. It also sucks up all of our water.

When I opened up the most recent issue of the Source I was extremely disappointed to see that there was no mention of the last concert of the season, STP, at Les Schwab. The Stone Temple Pilots rocked the house like I have not seen in a loooong time.

I keep hearing every night from Gordon Smith how much Jeff Merkley has wasted. I keep hearing every night from Jeff Merkley how much money Gordon Smith has wasted.

I found Sunday's editorial by John Costa "Convention Coverage Was Fair" to be laughable. I believe every publication has the right to espouse their beliefs, but why hide behind a smokescreen of impartiality when it is abundantly clear the Bulletin has been a GOP mouthpiece since the current owners took over? The Bulletin continually whines about its supposed impartiality and yet, every election year the Bulletin posts a list of ballot recommendations.

Well the inevitable happened this Saturday when two mountain bikers collided with one another and I had the opportunity to witness it all. One cyclist was climbing, having the right of way, the other blasting down the trail on a 6" travel bike. The descender did not yield to the climber perhaps thinking he had speed, weight and a buddy to roll over the single climber. Well when their aluminum steeds met at high speed they were going to stop. They both dismounted and the bikes were dropped where they were and out came the bravado fists a flying….wooo weee the downhiller went down with two quick jabs to the chin by the thin, fit, tattooed XC rider. The second downhiller was about to intervene then I stepped in to assist the XC rider. I have been riding the trail network around here for two years and the amount of bozo riders out here are mounting by the months. Hey you bozo riders, those movies like Seasons, The Collective and Roam are done by professional riders in sectioned off areas with film crews, zip lines, medical staff, in pristine country with no other RIDERS climbing etc.

McCain has a long history of working against workers. He has worked with large corporations and the right wing to weaken and destroy organized labor by supporting right to work (for less) laws, he has attempted to limit overtime for workers by radically overhauling the Fair Labor Standards Act and he has blocked a Senate vote on the Employee Free Choice Act which would restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions without employer harassment.
McCain has waged a 25-year attack to destroy prevailing wages by attempting to completely waive or repeal the Davis-Bacon Act which requires that workers on federally-funded construction projects be paid no less than the wages and benefits paid in the community for similar work. He has also blocked votes on "Strikers' Rights" legislation which allows SCABs to undermine striking workers by permanently replacing them while the workers are on the picket line fighting for wages, benefits and working conditions.
McCain failed to vote on legislation extending unemployment benefits to hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers whose lives are being brutalized in this economic crisis created by the Bush administration. McCain, who claims to be an independent thinker, has actually supported the Bush policies and positions 89% of the time including making Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy permanent and attempting to privatize social security.